After weeks of anticipation, curbside recycling made its debut Monday in Victoria.

Throughout many neighborhoods, 96-gallon - green-and-yellow carts, soon to be synonymous with sustainability - stood proud next to their gray counterparts near the curb.

Environmental Services Assistant Director Darryl Lesak said the program's first day went off without a hitch.

He estimated that 600 homeowners participated in Monday's 1,900-home route.

"We went out looking through containers, and counted around 600 that were put out," Lesak said. "Out of those 600, we only found two ... with trash in them: Styrofoam, household trash and food waste. Other than those two, it has been real smooth."

Lesak said he was "pleasantly surprised."

"We thought we might have trouble with people putting them (the carts) too close together," Lesak said. "We only put out a handful of tags, everybody else had it right."

The two carts must be placed at least five feet from each other and other obstacles for automated pickup.

Close the lid of the recycling cart completely at time of collection.

Education Specialist Kate Garcia said the rows of green-and-yellow carts were beautiful.

"We drove down every street this morning, and about 30 percent of homes had their carts out," she said.

She said the majority of calls the environmental services department has fielded were questions about how to get rid of the gray garbage carts.

"We've had a bunch of people call and say, 'Hey I'm not going to need this big gray trash can,'" she said. "Eighty percent of what you throw away is recyclable."

Because the new program is "single-stream," residents can mix their recyclables in one bin.

Rinse all containers and flatten cardboard boxes before placing them into the recycling cart.